WOYWW #824

 Good morning, crafty friends.

I need to catch up on my 100 day project. I've been making the tags just not posting. Bob will only be gone another three or four days and I'm trying to make headway in the studio.

First, my desk:

What I'm trying to get done while Bob is gone requires sorting stuff on the dining room table. I'm trying to get all of my bling organized as well as rearranging my fiber drawers to make room for all the Stampin' Up! ribbon I had to keep handy when I was a demonstrator. Since that isn't necessary, I'm working on blending those ribbons in with the other two drawers - making three drawers, actually. That craft box on the far left holds the lace trims I've been carding to but in the smaller box you see on the far left. That will open up a larger third drawer for ribbon. Isn't it always a process?  The papers in front are the printouts for my rough draft challenge coming up in April. I'm hoping to finish the draft of Book 2. I've not worked on the book since last July. Its time has come. I feel ready to finally finish the story and get back into a writing routine.

The boxes in the top left are full of ribbon to be carded as well as rolls of bling. I'm going to leave those on their rolls and give them their own box section.

Here's the flat bling I've been working on. This project is finished as you'll see in the final picture.

Pile of bling ready to be sorted in to categories

Sorted

All filed by category

I'd always had the bling in 5x7 card bags standing up like this but not in any order, which meant flipping through all of them to find what I wanted. I moved them to pockets cut from 4x6 brag books lined with a piece of poster board for stability cut to 3-7/8" by 5-7/8" then make file tabs an inch taller than the pockets and labeled everything. Before I had them in a phot box. This box was originally a sardine tin case box so takes up about one-third less space than the photo box. I'll be able to find the right bling for a project much faster.

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Sarah and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Sarah’sCraft Shed for all the details. Miss Sarah has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

DAY 17-20 #DOTHE100DAYPROJECT

 Hey Crafty friends.

Playing a little catch up here. We had tornados blow through our area on Friday night. Bob left Thursday morning so I napped a lot on Thursday. Friday I spent the day prepping for the tornados and catching up on my tags.  I'll be back with MAKE IT MAIL IT Monday next week. In the mean time, here are the last tags of the Winter theme:

Day 17:

Day 18:

Day 19:

Day 20:

I've not chosen the next category yet. I'll pull that tag later today.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

WOYWW #823

 Good morning, crafty friends!

Quick post before I take off for a ME day. I try to do them once a week where I walk away from everything and do what I want to just relax. Sometimes I throw in paying a bill because it's practical while I'm out. 

Here's my desk as I left it last night:

I had just finished filming a video on Goal Setting for my author channel.

If you've not seen any of my tags (today's will be put in tomorrow's post), they are posted daily on my YouTube channel community tag and on my IG. I'd love to have you follow me on IG.. I am KellysCreativeDreams.

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Sarah and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Sarah’sCraft Shed for all the details. Miss Sarah has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

DAY 16 - #DOTHE100DAYCHALLENGE & MAKE IT MAIL IT

Happy Monday, everyone!

Instead of using a Card Chicks card kit this morning, I went with a card kit I had clipped together and just laying on the shelf. I'm not sure where the image is from but I used a Cherry Cobbler card base then added Shimmering Crystal Effects for dew drops and a bit of shimmer.

Day 16. Wow! I've never made the 100 day project past day 3. LOL There is hope.

Today's tag is another team effort. I love that he helps.

DAY 16: 

Remember, if you’re playing, I’d love to see your creations. Share on social media and tag me.

Youtube community tab

Instagram channel

Facebook Group

Cara Brandon andFriends Facebook Group

Here’s my VIDEO LINK talking about what I’m going to do and showing some of the products.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

DAY 15 - #DOTHE100DAYPROJECT

 Good afternoon, crafty friends.

Lazy Sunday. We were gone all day yesterday shopping, getting our taxes done and eating at our favorite buffet, Sirloin Stockade. 

In return, Bob helped me plan out the tag for today. He blindly pulled a sketch from the file then helped figure out the papers from the collection I'd chosen. He really does have a good eye.

DAY 15:

Remember, if you’re playing, I’d love to see your creations. Share on social media and tag me.

Youtube community tab

Instagram channel

Facebook Group

Cara Brandon andFriends Facebook Group

Here’s my VIDEO LINK talking about what I’m going to do and showing some of the products.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

DAY 13 & 14 #DOTHE100PROJECT

 Good morning, crafty friends!

I got so caught up in a project yesterday that took  much longer than I anticipated and I'm still not done. Does that happen to you?

So here is Day 13:

The papers are more black/ gray than they show in the picture. Even the tree. So I added a pop of color with the word snow from a strip of ribbon that had some light blue. I brought the blue in with the snowflake (which shows up better in person) and in the bling.

DAY 14:

I took a liberty with this tag by adding a scalloped mat behind the main image. I thought this add a bit more dimension as well as a bit of femininity. The trees were fussy cut from the same paper line.

Remember, if you’re playing, I’d love to see your creations. Share on social media and tag me.

Youtube community tab

Instagram channel

Facebook Group

Cara Brandon andFriends Facebook Group

Here’s my VIDEO LINK talking about what I’m going to do and showing some of the products.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ctfukT940&list=PLJ2lz6QgfCUPPQYeFpeaxr7FizKiLRTef

 Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

DAY 12 - #DOTHE100DAYCHALLENGE

 Good morning craft friends.

Beautiful sunshine for photos this morning so I did today's tag really quick so as not to miss the light. 

With this second set of ten tags, I'm in a winter/ snow theme. You know, since winter seems to want to make frequent appearances. 

NOTE: Most of my items are RETIRED Stampin' Up! I have plenty to use. LOL I know all the DSP from them is retired.

Today's tag:

I chose Snowflake Splendor for today's tag. I knew the medium and large snowflakes in the paper were perfect for the circle element and the pull tab. I did add a skim of Night of Navy cardstock to break up the two middle layers.

Remember, if you’re playing, I’d love to see your creations. Share on social media and tag me.

Youtube community tab

Instagram channel

Facebook Group

Cara Brandon andFriends Facebook Group

Here’s my VIDEO LINK talking about what I’m going to do and showing some of the products.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

WOYWW #822

 Good morning, crafty friends!

I do apologize for missing last week. I got up way too early (like today) and didn't even think about our group until I had my head back on a pillow a few short hours later. I thought I'd get ahead of that today. 

So here's my desk:

Not super exciting, is it?

Since I got the filming/ crafting corner organized, I've been really good about cleaning up after a project. This morning I'll be working on my Day 10 & Day 11 of the #dothe100dayproject. Are you playing along? If you are, please make sure to tell me in the comments.

If you don't know what the #dothe100dayproject is, the concept is to do something, anything, whatever your project for 100 days. I've tried several times in the past and dropped off around Day 5. This year I made it through Day 9 before yesterday just hit me. I slept in late (go figure!) then put Bob to work helping me move appliances in the laundry room for a deep clean. He had the heavy lifting because I had no energy to do anything. I did do the dusting, sweeping, mopping then let him move everything back. Between tasks we sat at the dining room table playing cards and Yahtzee. Yesterday must have been a low energy day for Bob as well since I won everything we played. ;-)

They say if you skip 1 day, you're okay. But if you skip 2 days in a row, you're doomed. So  my first task for today is to get Day 10 & Day 11 done before I do anything else (including maybe needing a nap).

My project is to make 100 tags - 10 in each of 10 themes. I'm using a card sketch as inspiration for each day's tag. I've posted in my FB group, Instagram, here and on the community tab of my YouTube channel if you want to check any of them out. 

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Sarah and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Sarah’sCraft Shed for all the details. Miss Sarah has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

 Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

 

DAY 9 - #DOTHE100DAYPROJECT & MAKE IT MAIL IT

 Good morning, crafty friends!

Busy morning. After feeling a bit off yesterday, I'm feeling like I could almost tackle the world but I'll settle for the massive amount of office stuff I need to catch up on.

First, here's the tag:

I used Daisy Garden dsp and the Free As A Bird stamp set. The whale tale tab is from a multiple-size set of dies I purchased from Spectrum Art Creations. You'll find the set HERE  The set comes with three different sizes of the tab as well as the ability to cut multiple at one pass through your machine. The set also includes multiple hole reinforcer dies. 

Only one more day in the garden. I've decided to write the theme categories on bits of paper and draw them randomly.

Back to Make It Mail it Monday!

I have a Sterilite tub full of card kits from when I was in the Card Chicks group. Today's card is courtesy of Vikki Selix.

The paper and ribbon are from Stampin' Up! - Flower & Field (retired) The bear is from PSX.

I layered the dsp on white cardstock on a Cherry Cobbler base. I used layering ovals to punch out the bear and water-colored the image using Stampin' Up! watercolor pencils.  The sentiment is from Stampin' Up! A Little Lace stamp set. (retired)

I'll see you back here tomorrow for our final tag in the garden series.

Creative Blessings!

~Kelly

DAY 8 - #DOTHE100DAYPROJECT

 Good afternoon, crafty friends. 

Coming in a bit late on this lazy Sunday.

I used retired SU 6x6 paper pad - Sunshine & Rainbows. I used their watercolor pencils to color the image. The image is from Cardmaking & Papercrafts magazine issue 181

 

Remember, if you’re playing, I’d love to see your creations. Share on social media and tag me.

Youtube community tab

Instagram channel

Facebook Group

Cara Brandon andFriends Facebook Group

Here’s my VIDEO LINK talking about what I’m going to do and showing some of the products.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

DAY 7 - #DOTHE100DAYPROJECT

 Good morning, crafty friends!

Scurrying around to get some things done before dinner with Bob. 

I'm finding I need to either make my tag the night before or first thing in the morning to have the best light for photographing in the morning. I'll be checking the weather next week as we're to have storms. I may need to make up & photo a few ahead just in case.

Here is today's tag:

I used retired papers from Stampin' Up! - Petal Garden 6x6 paper, Barely Banana and Soft Sky card stock.

I think the baker's twine is also SU. I braided a yellow/ white with a single strand of solid black to make the tassel.

The bee is from #T stamp set - Garden.

The embossed honeycomb on the yellow strip and the hole reinforcer as well as the sentiment are from a Cardmaking & Papercrafts magazine (2018)

Remember, if you’re playing, I’d love to see your creations. Share on social media and tag me.

 

Youtube community tab

Instagram channel

Facebook Group

Cara Brandon andFriends Facebook Group

Here’s my VIDEO LINK talking about what I’m going to do and showing some of the products.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

DAY 6: #DOTHE100DAYPROJECT

 Happy Friday, everyone!

For today's tag I chose a sketch that was used to create a Christmas card (not my design but I liked the sketch)

Sketches can be used for ANY season, celebration, etc. 

I used New Horizons paper as well as the fine glitter paper from Stampin' Up! (retired), dragonfly and sentiment stamps from my stash. I stamped the dragonfly body with Memento black ink, then the wings with clear embossing ink. Heat embossed with clear powder then colored the wings with Stampin' Blends in Lt. Heather. The head of the dragonfly was separate so I nipped it off and added a flat backed jewel from Stampin' Up!

Remember, if you’re playing, I’d love to see your creations. Share on social media and tag me.

Youtube community tab

Instagram channel

Facebook Group

Cara Brandon andFriends Facebook Group

Here’s my VIDEO LINK talking about what I’m going to do and showing some of the products.

 

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

DAYS 4 & 5 - #DOTHE100DAYPROJECT

 Good afternoon!

Yesterday was just one of those days where nothing seemed to go the way it should. I'm getting a late start today because I'm still chillin' from yesterday's stress.

I didn't do WOYWW this week or post Day 4's tag:

I used a Mintay paper pad - Graceful

The sentiment is from a retired SU set - Grace's Garden

Day 5 (today):

Thanks to my late start this morning the Garden Green of the foilage and the strip on the right look black. They really are green. Just waited too late this morning to have the sunlight.

The base is Dandy Daisy (retired SU), that bird is a bugawump stamp. I got it probably 16 years ago at a Scrap & Stamp festival in Collinsville MO and this is the first time I've used it. The background circle, as well as the coloring on the bird and the ribbon at the top, are Soft Sea Foam.

One of the things I'm loving most about this challenge is I'm USING my stuff! 

Remember, if you're playing, I'd love to see your creations. Share on social media and tag me-

My YouTube community tab

My Instagram channel

My Facebook Group

Cara Brandon Creations Facebook Group

Here's my VIDEO LINK talking about what I'm going to do and showing some of the products.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

DAY 3 - #dothe100dayproject

Good morning!

Today is MAGICAL!!! I love numbers so this one speaks to me..

02-25-2025

I see I've changed the Subject line from how I was doing it on Day 1. I will keep the subject line starting with the day.

Here's my tag for Day 3:

For this one I used one of the stamps from Garden Florals - a freebie set from Cardmaking & PaperCrafting.  I also used Regency Park 6x6 paper pad from Stampin' Up!  

6x6 pads lend themselves perfectly to this as I'm using 3x5 manilla tag bases I've had for over 10 years!

Remember, if you're playing, I'd love to see your creations. Share on social media and tag me-

My YouTube community tab

My Instagram channel

My Facebook Group

Cara Brandon Creations Facebook Group

Here's my VIDEO LINK talking about what I'm going to do and showing some of the products.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ctfukT940&list=PLJ2lz6QgfCUPPQYeFpeaxr7FizKiLRTef

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

DAY 2 - #dothe100dayproject

 Happy Monday, everyone!

Normally, I'd be posting a Make It Mail Monday but I seem to have picked up a stomach bug. Didn't kick in until after I'd made the tag for today but not the card. I hope to be back to regular posting schedule the first week of March, so stay tuned.

In the mean time, here is my tag for Day 2:

I used Butterfly Brilliance 6x6 pad from Stampin' Up! and the 'Garden' stamp set from Dollar Tree.

I'll be back tomorrow for Day 3 (thankfully, I made it this morning before this hit)

In the mean time:

My YouTube community tab

My Instagram channel

My Facebook Group

Cara Brandon Creations Facebook Group

Here's my VIDEO LINK talking about what I'm going to do and showing some of the products.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

#DOTHE100DAYSPROJECT- Day 1

 I'm diving in to this challenge with the intention of going all the way! 

10 different themed categories with coordinating stamps

10 tags in each category

100 different card sketches for inspiration

Giving me 100 themed tags for 10 different journals! (guess that means I need to make journals, too!)

I will be sharing a tag every day in four places:

Here (sometimes in conjunction with other posts)

My YouTube community tab

My Instagram channel

My Facebook Group

Cara Brandon Creations Facebook Group

Here's my VIDEO LINK talking about what I'm going to do and showing some of the products;

Here's Day 1:

Are you doing the 100 day project?

Let me know in the comments below. I'd love to see what you're making. I'd also love to have you in my FB group!

Creative Blessings!

~Kelly

WOYWW 820

 Good morning, crafty friends!

I have about 4" of snow ( less than we were forecast) and the temperature is currently 8* F.

My backyard looking towards the garden

My desk is in a sad state. I started with a zoom call at 8 a.m. CST with my business mentor, Amber McCue. I spent most of the day working on the laptop there before moving back to where I usually work on the computer. I was there until 6:30 p.m.  Way too long on the screen but Tuesday nights are my 'late' night with my writing group.

I'll mess it up later today. I want to finish cutting hearts from all of the January 2022 Paper Pumpkin scraps and get that put away. Then I think I'll be back to cutting map inserts out for the pockets in the 50 states journal.

Thank you to those of you who shared your places of interest last week. Even if you aren't in the US, was nice to hear about places you treasure.

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Sarah and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Sarah’s Craft Shed for all the details. Miss Sarah has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

 Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

 

WOYWW #819

 Good morning, crafty friends.

So far we've escaped the ice that was predicted for Monday, Tuesday, and today. We're hovering at about 34* F.

Lots to do in the office today. Here's my desk:

I have a video going up this morning for the 50 States coffee table junk journal I'm making. I'm trying to showcase a video on some part of the project every Wednesday. Today is about making pockets for the '5 Must See Places' in each state.

I know a majority of you are from across the pond but if you have any information about your state, I'd love for you to put it in the comments of any of my Wednesday videos. If you have a YouTube channel, I'll be sure to give you a shout out.

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Sarah and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Sarah’s Craft Shed for all the details. Miss Sarah has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

 

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

FINAL VALENTINE CARD OF 2025!

Good morning, crafty friends.

A bit late coming in because I'm still trying to figure out all the changes microsoft was so kind to make to my computer a couple of weeks ago. One required me to reinstall FastStone Photo Resizer... but that is totally different from the previous version I had. I hate change. Can you tell? LOL Especially when it makes doing a task much longer and with many more steps than it has to be.

You'll find the video for how this card came together by clicking HERE. I promised I'd have the measurements for the template posted in today's blog, but first here is the card (that took me 30 min to resize & crop!)

I needed a grid to lay the hearts in tic-tac-toe style but didn't have a die so I created one.

Cut a piece of cardstock 

        (You can use any color. I also suggest making a template to use for future cards)

Using a score board (or your paper trimmer with a score tool)

   Score at 1-1/4" and at 2-3/4"

   Turn the paper a quarter turn and score at the 1-1/4" and the 2-3/4"

From there, in the video you will see how to trim out the openings by cutting out the centers at about 1/8" on either side of the score line. You'll wind up with 9 little squares you can either use or scrap. I've been scrapping A LOT of leftover pieces.

This is the last card using the January 2022 Paper Pumpkin. We'll crack open a new kit next week.

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

WOYWW #817

 Good morning, everyone!

Did anyone notice I was so excited to be back last week I put an extra 'W' in WOYWW in the subject? LOL I didn't either until this morning.

My desk:

This is the filming table I showed last week and where I do most of my crafting.

This is as I left my desk following a business class with Amber McCue. That woman is amazing in how she thinks. I'm hoping I'll learn a few things to get my Etsy store up and running full time this year.

One thing I did accomplish last week that I've been wanting to do for months was to go through all of my small crafting tools, scissors... you know the stuff we collect multiple of but may only need one or two.

That rotating caddy in the back left corner is now all sorted and organized. I also don't have multiple other cups, jars holding the same types of items taking up space. I wanted to get to y'all last week. Planned to do it on Sunday then time just slipped away. I'll do better this week.

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Sarah and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Sarah’s Craft Shed for all the details. Miss Sarah has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

 

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

WOYWWW # 816 - I'm Back!

 Good morning, crafty friends!@

I have missed you all so much.

I left the blogs & YouTube back in July to focus on getting the craft room in order rather than adding to the chaos on a weekly basis. Oh, I was still creating but not for those platforms but mostly for challenges trying to win/ earn more free product. LOL Go figure!

Before cluttering my desk up yesterday I made Valentines from a past Paper Pumpkin kit. I'm determined to work through all of them this year, get them out of here and the stamp sets in with the rest of my very organized stamps.

VIDEO

The chaos is still here but I finally have destinations for everything and am slowly getting areas in order.

Here's my desk as of this morning but will be cleared by this afternoon. 

Obviously not staged for the photo LOL. This all came off the window ledge I'm going to show you next. I will sort, pitch and find a new way to store everything here as soon as I finish this...

I wanted to move my paper sewing machine over to the crafting corner so it's available for sewing around tags, journal covers, etc. Before this it was on the total opposite end of the room in the sewing corner. I have a fabric machine for over there.

The empty unit to the right of the machine is where my ink pads go. I'll also fill in the stamp pad slots above with most used ribbon spools then the rest will go in the ribbon drawers on bobbins by color.

To the left of the machine is a Recollections organization piece I think is going away. Just takes up too much room. I'm going to try moving it to my journaling corner but if that doesn't work then I'll put it in the thrift box.

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Sarah and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Sarah’s Craft Shed for all the details. Miss Sarah has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

 

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

WELCOME TO 2025!!!

 Good morning!!

Yes, I'm finally back. I've spent the past six and a half months making sense of my studio. The work is not done but I have a clue as to what needs to go where and is now a matter of putting away. I've pitched A LOT! In reality, I probably should pitch more. We'll see as I go.

I have things lined up in my planner as to what needs to go where and what I'm resurrecting. While I get a blog post ready for that, I wanted to let you know the first Card Summit of 2025 is coming up this weekend!

Cardmaking Stash Summit Link

This year's summit focuses on using what we have! Now that's a summit I think we could all use.

Even if you're not a cardmaker, the techniques and supplies will work with just about any paper medium you work in. This is an affiliate link for Tiffany Solorio. I featured her studio on my blog last year. 

That link will take you to the sign-up page for this FREE event (though may choose to purchase the extended access for a small fee). You'll also be able to see who all the presenters are and their topics. 

Rummage through your stash and come play along!

Until next time....

Creative Blessings!